Foreign Literature Essay

Last night I was at the presentation of the Independent strange Fiction Prize, at the National Portrait Gallery, where a young Angolan writer, Jos Eduardo Agualusa, was announced the 2007 winner for his novel The Book of Chameleons, sayd from the Portuguese by Daniel Hahn. find in contemporary Angola, the book is particularly notable for being narrated by a lizard. The judges this year were the poet David Constantine, writer and editor Jennie Erdal, Arts Council belles-lettres officer Kate Griffin, novelist Ali Smith and the literary editor of the Independent, Boyd Tonkin.Admirably the prize is dual-lane among the translator and author, thus honouring an art that often goes unsung. The book was on the face of it a popular choice and Agualusa received his award in person, tended to(p) by whoops and cheers. Tonkin extols the prize as a unique bridge between writers abroad and readers at home. As thrilled as I was that this talented newcomer beat such literary heavyweights as Is mail Kad ar and Javier mutilateas, however, I was even more delighted that the award honours a small literary publisher, Arcadia, who recently celebrated their 10th anniversary.The dedicated team at Arcadia are worthy recipients of this prestigious award, not just for delivery this imaginative young writer to an English readership, but overall for their championing of pagan diversity and for widening our literary choice 50% of their 2007 lists are books in translation. Given the effects of globalisation elsewhere, it seems astonishing that we dont translate more impertinent literature in this country. Apparently, translated fiction accounts for only 3% of fiction sales in the UK, compared with 30-40% in France or Spain. The British are voracious readers, so why are we so insular? get intot we welcome unusual voices and different perspectives? How can we exert wring on publishers to produce more translated fiction? For those interested in foreign literature, an excellent resour ce is Words Without Borders, an online magazine dedicated to promoting international telephone exchange through translation and publishing works/extracts on the web. And if youd wish to see Jos Eduardo Agualusa and Daniel Hahn, theyll be reading from The Book of Chameleons this evening at Foyles bookshop, London, 6.30pm 8.30pm.